Mirror, Mirror {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 17- Surveillance

With jackets wrapped around their torsos and blankets spread across their laps, bearing the cold weather became much easier. Moving around, however, became much harder.

It wasn't unusual for there to be citizens lurking around the edge of the tree line, obviously intent to catch somebody. Cassandra and Liam were finding themselves getting pushed farther and farther inland towards the forest.

It was quickly becoming obvious that to escape the Queen's wrath, they would need to Portal, and fast. But with all the increased surveillance, how would they manage to get even close to a Sector, let alone a home and two Mirrors?

Perhaps time will lessen the interest the citizens have in catching us. If we lay low, we may escape their minds completely.

Cassandra wished that she still had the folded piece of paper with the instructions for Portaling on it. Somewhere in the flustered confusion of being arrested and escaping from prison, she had misplaced it.

Even when it came to extremely important things that would be needed in the future, she always seemed to be losing things. As a kid her mother would keep a piece of paper full of the locations of her favourite toys. Adhita had always been so organized and grounded, something that was never passed down to Cassandra. If only my mother was still here now.

An overgrown root caught on Cassandra's foot, causing her to topple downwards. While she had been lost in her own thoughts, caution must have slipped away from her.

Liam's warm hand extended to help her up. Flushing at her lack of attention, she grasped it and regained her composure. He was probably wondering why she was so clumsy, a question she couldn't answer with anything but 'I've always been this way'.

One thing that Cassandra had realized throughout their excursion into the forest surrounding all of Echo, was that it was easy to get lost. When all of the trees looked exactly the same, navigating between them became nearly impossible. Their one saving grace was the circular shape of Echo, meaning that if they kept walking in a giant circle, they wouldn't get too lost.

A small, cold pinprick of sensation landed on her hand. It was a snowflake, already melting away into a drop of water. The sky opened up and more joined the first, quickly blanketing the world in white iciness.

A giggle escaped Cassandra. It was their first real snow of the season. She stuck her tongue out childishly and attempted to catch one of the puffy flakes on it. Looking over at her, Liam joined in too, until they were both covered from head to toe in snow.

It had been a while since she had last felt such happiness and carefree joy. Sometimes you needed to let go of your burdens, even for a short amount of time. In all her grief over her mother, Cassandra realized she had forgotten to keep living, instead of just surviving.

The pair kept walking through the forest, caught up in the whirlwind of beauty. Crunching snow beneath their feet accompanied them, as did the melted flakes soaking through their jackets. Easy conversation started between them, each telling stories of the most memorable snowfalls they'd witnessed.

It was nice to have someone to rely on, even with her mother gone. Cassandra was thankful she had Liam to help guide her when alone she would have been lost. He was a gift she hadn't known needed giving, and now that he was here, she couldn't imagine what she would have done without him.

In fact, she was so absorbed in her own thoughts and revelations, Cassandra didn't notice when the trees began to thin. The once heavily packed silver birches were becoming spread apart, farther and farther apart.

When they emerged in rundown Sector E, they both realized that they had wandered too far. Only it was too late to turn back, as a rough hand had grabbed Liam's arm.

The man it belonged to was dirty and looked exhausted. When he realized who the trespassers on his property were however, a greedy glint lit up his eyes. "I've got them! The runaway prisoners, the two little brats! They're over here!"

Heads began turning as the people in Sector E took in the sight. Acting on impulse, Cassandra slammed her elbow into the man's gut watching him drop Liam's arm. She took her chance and grabbed Liam's hand, pulling him back into the forest they had so blindly left.

Angry shouts were the only thing that followed them there, promising that Queen Pandora and all her guards were roaming around and looking for them. The citizens yelled that they would put Cassandra and Liam under constant surveillance until the pair were captured, and a reward fell upon Sector E, yet for some reason, nobody ran to catch them.

Never had it been so bad to be an escaped prisoner of the Queen.